Bragg: Polls state he's going all the way

Updated 11:48 am, Saturday, September 22, 2012

Politics, like church league softball or $2 longneck night, can bring out the worst in some people. When it comes to politics, these people argue, they get angry, they dig their heels in and they keep bringing up the same stuff, over and over again.

I'm referring, of course, to political analysts, who take a bad situation and make it worse.

But you don't have to put up with them. Instead, put up with me. Give me a few minutes and I can save you from wasting any time on political punditry for the next six weeks.

(Your candidate), in many ways, is his own man. But he's also a man of the people. He shoots from the hip and speaks his mind, but it's the voice of the people talking. He won't be influenced by special interests, but he's got a special interest in issues that impact the people. He'll do what the people want, but he won't do what's popular on hot button issues just to get votes. In that way and many others, he's his own man.

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Speaking of issues, his campaign is focused on them. It's weak on specifics, but that's OK because he's campaigning on his record. At times, he sounds like a broken record. He appeared to be in a groove in the primaries, and had record-setting rallies. That's off the record, by the way.

The polls show him running behind, but that's OK because he doesn't believe the polls. The polls mean nothing, unless they show him sitting in the lead. Hopefully, he'll be polling well when voters go to the polls.

His campaign has a good ground game, which is necessary to generate a good turnout. Voter turnout is essential, unless it's not. You can take that to the bank.

Speaking of banks, his phone banks have been working overtime. He banked a lot of good will in his last race, but he was forced to drop out, paying a penalty for early withdrawal. This year, he's banking on a blitz of television ads. In one of them, he's eating a blintz.

He's a visionary. He has vision. And it's a long-term vision. He's got 20/20 vision. At times, he sees the world through rose-colored glasses even though his policies are colorblind and the glasses are half-full. He won't turn a blind eye to the needs of the people even if the end is in sight. Unless, of course, he gets blinded by his own success.

No child will be left behind. He wants to put children first and make sure we don't leave today's problems for them. But it's imperative that we teach the children of today that it will take hard work to succeed tomorrow. And that's why he wants to focus on jobs. Jobs are his baby, but Washington has been babying the special interests for too long. They want to throw away the baby with the bath water. For way too long, children have been an afterthought. Now it's time we took control of this baby, because the children are our future. He has no official stance on bath water.

Some say there's been no red meat in his campaign. They say he's great at chewing the fat, but the main beef with him is that when the pork is getting cut, he chickens out. But this doesn't pass the smell test because it smells fishy.

Speaking of fishing and the outdoors, will he cut bait and run if things get tough, or fold up his tent and leave? I don't know, but I'm betting he won't get baited into veering off message. And that message is abundantly clear: He is fishing for your support. And that's why he's camped out — in a big, inclusive tent, by the way — in the swing states.

He's in the race to win it. But it's a race to the finish line, and it's a two-man race. There's a mad dash to finish on top, but it's actually more of a marathon than a sprint.

Vote with your heart. Vote with her brain. Vote with your conscience. But please, just vote once.